The Advocate: Saints and Falcons hope to set the tone for their seasons in opener on Sunday

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Saints and Falcons hope to set the tone for their seasons in opener on Sunday

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Some people might look back at the New Orleans Saints’ season opening win over the Atlanta Falcons last year and conclude the fate of each team was set on the final meaningful play of the game.
After safety Kenny Vaccaro ...

Some people might look back at the New Orleans Saints’ season opening win over the Atlanta Falcons last year and conclude the fate of each team was set on the final meaningful play of the game.

After safety Kenny Vaccaro tipped a Matt Ryan pass away from Tony Gonzalez in the end zone to Roman Harper, who dived to pull in the interception and seal the Saints’ 23-17 win, the teams were sent down different paths. New Orleans finished the year 11-5, while the Falcons limped to a 4-12 finish.

Did the Saints end up on the right side of the momentum that day? Were the Falcons crushed underneath it?

It’s possible both of those things happened, but that might not be asking the right question.

The right question is this: Does momentum even exist on a week-to-week basis?

The idea of what happened one week somehow influencing the next week is something that Bill Belichick will not entertain. The New England Patriots coach has fielded that inquiry several times throughout his tenure, and each time he dismisses it by saying something along the lines of, “Each week’s different, each game’s different.”

Re: Saints and Falcons hope to set the tone for their seasons in opener on Sunday

After watching all the ridiculous, 'roided out fighting, pushing, and chest-beating in Falcons training camp and preseason on Hard Knocks, and hearing Smith talking about "toughness" and "that's a good penalty!".... I totally fully expect a bench-clearing brawl to break out in this one, before we even get to the second quarter. The Falcons players are physically outmatched, so they are gonna be throwing punches, picking fights, and trying to get Saints players ejected -- just you watch. It's there as a sub-theme in every single episode of Hard Knocks. Their body language and rhetoric is all based on frustration and playground insecurity, and self-doubt.